Portesham Primary School rated 'Inadequate' by Ofsted
The school's gone from being 'Outstanding' to being placed into special measures
Ofsted inspectors have rated a formerly 'outstanding' Dorset village school as 'inadequate' and 'failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education'.
Portesham Church of England Primary School has been rated inadequate following an inspection in May.
The school, which had been graded as outstanding since 2012, was rated as inadequate for its quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision. It was rated as requiring improvement for behaviour and attitudes and personal development.
The report concluded that the school requires special measures 'because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement'.
This was the first routine inspection carried out at the school since the COVID-19 pandemic and inspectors came to this conclusion despite taking the impact of the pandemic into consideration.
Rebecca Allen, former governor of the school, has now removed her son from education there because of the low standards.
She told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset:
"When a place came up on the governing body, I thought 'this is my opportunity to find out a little bit more and hopefully be part of taking the school forward.
"However, it was actually at that point that my concerns grew further because I realised once I was a governor that there was more problems than I initially realised."
She says governors meetings were more about housekeeping, and very little mention was given to teaching and learning.
"Looking through children's work, and some of the things I was looking at in books was shocking to me that the expectations were so low.
"When I tried to address this, there was lots of excuses and promises made of things that were going to happen, but there seemed no urgency to make change and there seemed little monitoring and assessing of where the children were."
The report noted the decrease in numbers of pupils on roll - currently 74 - and the significant turbulence in staffing and governance since the previous inspection.
It stated that 'the quality of education has significant weaknesses' with the curriculum being 'not ambitious enough and not well planned', as a result of which 'pupils are not well prepared for the next stage of their education'.
Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is weak, they are not able to talk about British values and they have limited understanding and knowledge of other cultures.
Critical findings note that reading is not a priority and pupils falling behind do not receive the support to catch up. The report is also critical about leaders and governors who 'demonstrate limited capacity to improve the school. They do not recognise the extent of the school's weaknesses. Their view of the school is too positive. The school's improvement plan is not well thought through. Leaders, including governors, have not focused on the right priorities to improve the school.'
Provision for pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND) was weak, with staff not having received sufficient training to enable them to meet these pupils' needs, and additional support is not well planned or effectively delivered.
Arrangements for safeguarding were found to be effective, although safeguarding records were 'not well organised'. The report noted most pupils feel safe in the school and enjoy attending, with bullying being rare.
Vik Verma, Dorset Council Corporate Director for Education and Learning, said:
“Following a recent inspection by Ofsted of Portesham Primary School, the school has been put into special measures. Being put into special measures means that a school will be closely monitored and helped to carry out a number of actions to improve standards. Dorset Council will provide support and help oversee the school’s improvement plan, to ensure that the necessary actions are undertaken. We would like to reassure all parents and carers that the pupils, their education and their well-being are our top priority, and we will be working together closely to support the school to improve.”